West Coast MC Picked for Detroit Final of Red Bull EmSee: The Road to 8 Mile

Raw talent, raw rhymes and raw passion are the words that best describe the eight MC’s that battled it out at Red Bull Emsee: The Road to 8 Mile on Friday July 16 in San Francisco. The competition, judged by some of the Bay Area’s finest freestyle rappers including Del the Funky Homosapien, Lyrics Born and Aceyalone, has tapped local rapper NoCanDo to represent the West Coast in national finals being held in Detroit, which will be judged by arguably one of the best freestyle rappers of our time - Eminem.

In the first two of the three rounds, the MCs were challenged to incorporate unique and spontaneous topics and words into their rhymes which fed into the true freestyle nature of the battle, deterring contestants from reciting pre-meditated rhymes.

In the third and final round, the last-standing MCs NoCanDo (pictured above and at left) and Dirtbag Dan went head-to-head in a raw and un-directed face-off that kept the crowd on its toes. When it was all said and done, the judges announced NoCanDo as the winner. He will be heading to Detroit for the Red Bull Emsee national finals on August 26.

When asked how he felt about representing the West Coast in the finals, NoCanDo said, “I’ve been repping the West Coast since I started rapping, and I’ve been proud of repping where I’m from since I’ve started.”

“I liked his style,” said judge and special performer Del the Funky Homosapien (pictured below) about the winner. “He had a lot of technical ability and that’s what matters when he gets to Detroit. They’re not gonna be playin’.”

Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Photofiles

Del the Funky Homosapien definitely has a dedicated Bay Area following. The crowd of locals rapped along with him as he performed an intimate 30-minute set after the final round, just before the winners were announced. Keeping the crowd energized and engaged in the show throughout the night were co-hosts D.R.E.S. Tha BEATnik and MC Supernatural.